It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile upon 
mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has done.

How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round up the 
cows as well?  Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood' imagination?

Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all afternoon 
(that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner).  Even then, the paint 
does not really have much 'body' to it for all its cost, and needs doing 
again 2 years later.  [First time around I used Sadolins, and '5 year clear 
Cuprinol', the first started flaking quickly and attracted the dirt; the 
second has not stopped lichen colonising the wood so that to remove the 
black lichen surface 'on the paint' one has to blast away both paint and the 
top layer of wood.  This time around I am using Sandtex.  Even this starts 
with a con, as it says in big letters 'ONE COAT' on the front of the tin, 
and then in the small print on the back says unpainted surfaces must be 
primed!  I do not have very high expectations that this will fare any better 
than the Sadolin.]

I have to take my (cowboy) hat off to those Yanks and their mindboggling 
miles of fence, but what DID they use for paint: it must have been a lot 
better and cheaper than what we have now?!

Any ideas?

Cheers,

S

On Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:14:20 +0100, Spamlet wrote:

> It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile upon 
> mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has done.
> 
> How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round up the 
> cows as well?  Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood' imagination?
> 
> Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all afternoon 
> (that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner).  Even then, the paint 
> does not really have much 'body' to it for all its cost, and needs doing 
> again 2 years later.  [First time around I used Sadolins, and '5 year clear 
> Cuprinol', the first started flaking quickly and attracted the dirt; the 
> second has not stopped lichen colonising the wood so that to remove the 
> black lichen surface 'on the paint' one has to blast away both paint and the 
> top layer of wood.  This time around I am using Sandtex.  Even this starts 
> with a con, as it says in big letters 'ONE COAT' on the front of the tin, 
> and then in the small print on the back says unpainted surfaces must be 
> primed!  I do not have very high expectations that this will fare any better 
> than the Sadolin.]
> 
> I have to take my (cowboy) hat off to those Yanks and their mindboggling 
> miles of fence, but what DID they use for paint: it must have been a lot 
> better and cheaper than what we have now?!
> 
> Any ideas?
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> S
==================================
Almost certainly some kind of whitewash / lime wash. Have you read Mark
Twain's 'Tom Sawyer'? I doubt if it would work well here (UK) but it might
have been to protect against termites.

Cic.

-- 
===================================
Using Ubuntu Linux
Windows shown the door
===================================

On Jul 6, 1:18 pm, Cicero  wrote:
> On Sun, 06 Jul 2008 12:14:20 퍝, Spamlet wrote:

> > It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile upon
> > mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has done.
>
> > How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round up the
> > cows as well?  Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood' imagination?
>
> > Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all afternoon
> > (that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner).  Even then, the paint
> > does not really have much 'body' to it for all its cost, and needs doing
> > again 2 years later.  [First time around I used Sadolins, and '5 year clear
> > Cuprinol', the first started flaking quickly and attracted the dirt; the
> > second has not stopped lichen colonising the wood so that to remove the
> > black lichen surface 'on the paint' one has to blast away both paint and the
> > top layer of wood.  This time around I am using Sandtex.  Even this starts
> > with a con, as it says in big letters 'ONE COAT' on the front of the tin,
> > and then in the small print on the back says unpainted surfaces must be
> > primed!  I do not have very high expectations that this will fare any better
> > than the Sadolin.]
>
> > I have to take my (cowboy) hat off to those Yanks and their mindboggling
> > miles of fence, but what DID they use for paint: it must have been a lot
> > better and cheaper than what we have now?!
>
> > Any ideas?
>
> > Cheers,
>
> > S
>
> ==================================
> Almost certainly some kind of whitewash / lime wash. Have you read Mark
> Twain's 'Tom Sawyer'? I doubt if it would work well here (UK) but it might
> have been to protect against termites.
>
> Cic.

with a durable timber presumably?


NT

Spamlet wrote:
> It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile
> upon mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has
> done.
> How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round
> up the cows as well?  Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood'
> imagination?

Dunno, but a similar thing in town.

Couple of years ago our Matalan burned down (Police questioned Andy Hall, 
but he apparently had an alibi).

They used something like 600 sheets of shuttering ply 8' x 4' to fence 
around the perimiter, plus posts, plus 4" x 1" top & bottom rails.

Two guys spent over a week painting it all white with rollers.  Two guys 
then spent another week applying masking tape & painting the bottom half 
dark blue.

Two more guys then spent ages masking up & painting a light blue stripe on 
the dark blue bit.  Another guy then spent 4 days putting the construction 
companys logo on every other board.

Matalan's due to be opened in a week or so, and apparently the whole lot - 
all 600 sheets will be scrapped.


-- 
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

On 6 Jul, 12:14, "Spamlet" <spam...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile upon
> mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has done.
>
> How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round up the
> cows as well?  Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood' imagination?
>
> Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all afternoon
> (that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner).  Even then, the paint
> does not really have much 'body' to it for all its cost, and needs doing
> again 2 years later.  [First time around I used Sadolins, and '5 year clear
> Cuprinol', the first started flaking quickly and attracted the dirt; the
> second has not stopped lichen colonising the wood so that to remove the
> black lichen surface 'on the paint' one has to blast away both paint and the
> top layer of wood.  This time around I am using Sandtex.  Even this starts
> with a con, as it says in big letters 'ONE COAT' on the front of the tin,
> and then in the small print on the back says unpainted surfaces must be
> primed!  I do not have very high expectations that this will fare any better
> than the Sadolin.]
>
> I have to take my (cowboy) hat off to those Yanks and their mindboggling
> miles of fence, but what DID they use for paint: it must have been a lot
> better and cheaper than what we have now?!
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Cheers,
>
> S


I doubt that they did. It might have become a status symbol for the
cattle barons, showing they had access to sawn lumber and white paint.
I'd guess it became common with the steam driven saw-mill and the log
cabin and the split rail fence declined at the same time.

The white paint would have been white lead (lead  Vinegar or some
such) mixed with linseed oil. That has been in common use everywhere
since at least Ancient Greek times. I'm neither a paintmaker nor
chemist, so believe this at your peril.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lead

They did spend a lot of time splitting rails for fences until barbed
wire came along. As in 'run out of town on a rail'; if anyone can
explain that one, I'd be much obliged.

Logs will split along radial lines as they dry out, and can be split
easily (relative to sawing) using wedges and a sledge hammer.

Abraham Lincoln had done a lot of it and used it to shown his
connection with the average farmer/manual worker; bloody hard work,
apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-rail_fence

"Onetap"  wrote in message 
news:375273da-f568-4ac7-855a-79e5ebc35da7@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
On 6 Jul, 12:14, "Spamlet" <spam...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile upon
> mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has done.
>
> How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round up 
> the
> cows as well? Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood' imagination?
>
> Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all afternoon
> (that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner). Even then, the paint
> does not really have much 'body' to it for all its cost, and needs doing
> again 2 years later. [First time around I used Sadolins, and '5 year clear
> Cuprinol', the first started flaking quickly and attracted the dirt; the
> second has not stopped lichen colonising the wood so that to remove the
> black lichen surface 'on the paint' one has to blast away both paint and 
> the
> top layer of wood. This time around I am using Sandtex. Even this starts
> with a con, as it says in big letters 'ONE COAT' on the front of the tin,
> and then in the small print on the back says unpainted surfaces must be
> primed! I do not have very high expectations that this will fare any 
> better
> than the Sadolin.]
>
> I have to take my (cowboy) hat off to those Yanks and their mindboggling
> miles of fence, but what DID they use for paint: it must have been a lot
> better and cheaper than what we have now?!
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Cheers,
>
> S


I doubt that they did. It might have become a status symbol for the
cattle barons, showing they had access to sawn lumber and white paint.
I'd guess it became common with the steam driven saw-mill and the log
cabin and the split rail fence declined at the same time.

The white paint would have been white lead (lead + Vinegar or some
such) mixed with linseed oil. That has been in common use everywhere
since at least Ancient Greek times. I'm neither a paintmaker nor
chemist, so believe this at your peril.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lead

They did spend a lot of time splitting rails for fences until barbed
wire came along. As in 'run out of town on a rail'; if anyone can
explain that one, I'd be much obliged.

Logs will split along radial lines as they dry out, and can be split
easily (relative to sawing) using wedges and a sledge hammer.

Abraham Lincoln had done a lot of it and used it to shown his
connection with the average farmer/manual worker; bloody hard work,
apparently.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-rail_fence


Interesting thoughts folks, and well selected links from Onetap.
Here's your Wiki extra on the 'run out of...':
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_out_of_town_on_a_rail

Like the bit about it being normal practice to tar and feather Tories.  I 
would extend this to all parties these days!

Sounds to have been a really nasty job making lead pigment too.  As a child 
I watched my dad blowlamping vast thicknesses of lead paint from all the 
woodwork in the house (had a penchant for biting lead soldiers too...) - 
probably explains while my mind keeps going blank these days, but that stuff 
did work pretty well!

Cheers,

S

The Medway Handyman wrote:
> Spamlet wrote:
>> It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile
>> upon mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has
>> done.
>> How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round
>> up the cows as well?  Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood'
>> imagination?

They're made of plastic now...

> Couple of years ago our Matalan burned down (Police questioned Andy Hall, 
> but he apparently had an alibi). ...
> They used something like 600 sheets of shuttering ply 8' x 4' to fence 
> around the perimiter, plus posts, plus 4" x 1" top & bottom rails.  ...
> Matalan's due to be opened in a week or so, and apparently the whole lot - 
> all 600 sheets will be scrapped.

Mmmmm. I'm imagining a Really Good Shed could be made out of all that.

Owain

On 6 Jul, 16:43, Onetap  wrote:

The wiki page on barbed wire says the cattle in the westerns  were
free ranging until the arrival of barbed wire in the late 19th
century. It looks like the split-rail fences were used to enclose
paddocks and crops and white picket fences were ornamental, if there
at all.

I've never seen one of those zig-zag split rail fences in any western
film, I suppose it'd cost a fortune in labour to make enough to
enclose even a small field.
ISTR a split-rail fence was in an Aussie film, The Chant of Jimmie
Blacksmith; when JB , an aboriginal had nearly killed himself building
it, the rancher wouldn't pay him the agreed amount. It looked carp
BTW.

The preferred material is cedar, which incidentally is used for
beehives 'cos it's very resistant to  attack by insects. Using
insecticides on beehive wood is not a good plan. I used to keep bees,
but became allergic to stings.

On 2008-07-06 16:15:48 +0100, "The Medway Handyman" 
 said:

> Spamlet wrote:
>> It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile
>> upon mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has
>> done.
>> How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round
>> up the cows as well?  Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood'
>> imagination?
> 
> Dunno, but a similar thing in town.
> 
> Couple of years ago our Matalan burned down (Police questioned Andy Hall,
> but he apparently had an alibi).
> 
> They used something like 600 sheets of shuttering ply 8' x 4' to fence
> around the perimiter, plus posts, plus 4" x 1" top & bottom rails.
> 
> Two guys spent over a week painting it all white with rollers.  Two guys
> then spent another week applying masking tape & painting the bottom half
> dark blue.
> 
> Two more guys then spent ages masking up & painting a light blue stripe on
> the dark blue bit.  Another guy then spent 4 days putting the construction
> companys logo on every other board.
> 
> Matalan's due to be opened in a week or so, and apparently the whole lot -
> all 600 sheets will be scrapped.

Clearly an insurance job....

On Jul 6, 2:15 pm, "Spamlet" <spam...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> "Onetap"  wrote in message
>
> news:375273da-f568-4ac7-855a-79e5ebc35da7@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> On 6 Jul, 12:14, "Spamlet" <spam...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile upon
> > mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has done.
>
> > How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round up
> > the
> > cows as well? Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood' imagination> > Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all afternoon
> > (that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner). Even then, the paint
> > does not really have much 'body' to it for all its cost, and needs doing
> > again 2 years later. [First time around I used Sadolins, and '5 year clear
> > Cuprinol', the first started flaking quickly and attracted the dirt; the
> > second has not stopped lichen colonising the wood so that to remove the
> > black lichen surface 'on the paint' one has to blast away both paint and
> > the
> > top layer of wood. This time around I am using Sandtex. Even this starts
> > with a con, as it says in big letters 'ONE COAT' on the front of the tin,
> > and then in the small print on the back says unpainted surfaces must be
> > primed! I do not have very high expectations that this will fare any
> > better
> > than the Sadolin.]
>
> > I have to take my (cowboy) hat off to those Yanks and their mindboggling
> > miles of fence, but what DID they use for paint: it must have been a lot
> > better and cheaper than what we have now?!
>
> > Any ideas?
>
> > Cheers,
>
> > S
>
> I doubt that they did. It might have become a status symbol for the
> cattle barons, showing they had access to sawn lumber and white paint.
> I'd guess it became common with the steam driven saw-mill and the log
> cabin and the split rail fence declined at the same time.
>
> The white paint would have been white lead (lead  Vinegar or some
> such) mixed with linseed oil. That has been in common use everywhere
> since at least Ancient Greek times. I'm neither a paintmaker nor
> chemist, so believe this at your peril.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lead
>
> They did spend a lot of time splitting rails for fences until barbed
> wire came along. As in 'run out of town on a rail'; if anyone can
> explain that one, I'd be much obliged.
>
> Logs will split along radial lines as they dry out, and can be split
> easily (relative to sawing) using wedges and a sledge hammer.
>
> Abraham Lincoln had done a lot of it and used it to shown his
> connection with the average farmer/manual worker; bloody hard work,
> apparently.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-rail_fence
>
> Interesting thoughts folks, and well selected links from Onetap.
> Here's your Wiki extra on the 'run out of...':http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_out_of_town_on_a_rail
>
> Like the bit about it being normal practice to tar and feather Tories.  I
> would extend this to all parties these days!
>
> Sounds to have been a really nasty job making lead pigment too.  As a child
> I watched my dad blowlamping vast thicknesses of lead paint from all the
> woodwork in the house (had a penchant for biting lead soldiers too...) -
> probably explains while my mind keeps going blank these days, but that stuff
> did work pretty well!
>
> Cheers,
>
> S- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Was that not why painters, back in those days (I can just recall the
wartime1940s etc.) took and were allowed to take, frequent 'tea-
breaks'.
Have also read, somewhere, that drinking milk was also one method for
minimizing or removing lead from the human body?  Although whether
working people could then afford it may have been unlikely.
Oh, btw in 1956 my late Newfoundland fisherman/carpenter etc. father
in law was still using lime wash to paint fences and his barn;
although they managed to afford paint for the house. Fences had to be
pretty secure then to keep wandering cattle and horses OUT OF one
gardens and vegetable fields.
These days, with fewer fences the occasional wild moose can make havoc
of more ornamenal trees and flowers etc. in one night. A neighbour has
a 'summer place' some 30 miles out of town and has yet to have
anything deciduous survive moose cropping any trees he plants! And
occasionally a moose gets hit by  car or truck; often at night, not
good news for either party!

On Jul 6, 11:14 pm, "Spamlet" <spam...@invalid.invalid> wrote:

> Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all afternoon
> (that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner).

Each section of my fence hangs on four large horizontal screws. These
fit into slots in the fence rails. So I can easily lift all the
sections, put them on some old corrugated iron and spray paint them.
The whole fence takes half an hour to paint. No paint gets on the
footpath!

"terry"  wrote in message 
news:e1710f0d-5bb2-40ba-9f5b-559bc51d0460@c58g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
On Jul 6, 2:15 pm, "Spamlet" <spam...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
> "Onetap"  wrote in message
>
> news:375273da-f568-4ac7-855a-79e5ebc35da7@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com...
> On 6 Jul, 12:14, "Spamlet" <spam...@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > It seems that any US TVprog/film outside city centres, features mile 
> > upon
> > mile of white picket fence, and from what I recall, always has done.
>
> > How did 'cowboys' find time to make and paint these fences, and round up
> > the
> > cows as well? Or are these just figments of the 'Hollywood' imagination?
>
> > Currently ~£25 of paint does about 20' of fence and takes me all 
> > afternoon
> > (that's after an afternoon with the blast cleaner). Even then, the paint
> > does not really have much 'body' to it for all its cost, and needs doing
> > again 2 years later. [First time around I used Sadolins, and '5 year 
> > clear
> > Cuprinol', the first started flaking quickly and attracted the dirt; the
> > second has not stopped lichen colonising the wood so that to remove the
> > black lichen surface 'on the paint' one has to blast away both paint and
> > the
> > top layer of wood. This time around I am using Sandtex. Even this starts
> > with a con, as it says in big letters 'ONE COAT' on the front of the 
> > tin,
> > and then in the small print on the back says unpainted surfaces must be
> > primed! I do not have very high expectations that this will fare any
> > better
> > than the Sadolin.]
>
> > I have to take my (cowboy) hat off to those Yanks and their mindboggling
> > miles of fence, but what DID they use for paint: it must have been a lot
> > better and cheaper than what we have now?!
>
> > Any ideas?
>
> > Cheers,
>
> > S
>
> I doubt that they did. It might have become a status symbol for the
> cattle barons, showing they had access to sawn lumber and white paint.
> I'd guess it became common with the steam driven saw-mill and the log
> cabin and the split rail fence declined at the same time.
>
> The white paint would have been white lead (lead + Vinegar or some
> such) mixed with linseed oil. That has been in common use everywhere
> since at least Ancient Greek times. I'm neither a paintmaker nor
> chemist, so believe this at your peril.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_lead
>
> They did spend a lot of time splitting rails for fences until barbed
> wire came along. As in 'run out of town on a rail'; if anyone can
> explain that one, I'd be much obliged.
>
> Logs will split along radial lines as they dry out, and can be split
> easily (relative to sawing) using wedges and a sledge hammer.
>
> Abraham Lincoln had done a lot of it and used it to shown his
> connection with the average farmer/manual worker; bloody hard work,
> apparently.
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-rail_fence
>
> Interesting thoughts folks, and well selected links from Onetap.
> Here's your Wiki extra on the 'run out 
> of...':http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_out_of_town_on_a_rail
>
> Like the bit about it being normal practice to tar and feather Tories. I
> would extend this to all parties these days!
>
> Sounds to have been a really nasty job making lead pigment too. As a child
> I watched my dad blowlamping vast thicknesses of lead paint from all the
> woodwork in the house (had a penchant for biting lead soldiers too...) -
> probably explains while my mind keeps going blank these days, but that 
> stuff
> did work pretty well!
>
> Cheers,
>
> S- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

Was that not why painters, back in those days (I can just recall the
wartime1940s etc.) took and were allowed to take, frequent 'tea-
breaks'.
Have also read, somewhere, that drinking milk was also one method for
minimizing or removing lead from the human body?  Although whether
working people could then afford it may have been unlikely.
Oh, btw in 1956 my late Newfoundland fisherman/carpenter etc. father
in law was still using lime wash to paint fences and his barn;
although they managed to afford paint for the house. Fences had to be
pretty secure then to keep wandering cattle and horses OUT OF one
gardens and vegetable fields.
These days, with fewer fences the occasional wild moose can make havoc
of more ornamenal trees and flowers etc. in one night. A neighbour has
a 'summer place' some 30 miles out of town and has yet to have
anything deciduous survive moose cropping any trees he plants! And
occasionally a moose gets hit by  car or truck; often at night, not
good news for either party!

Got any good recipes for limewash?
I suppose it's too late for this fence though, as it would not go over the 
gloss.

[Incidentally, I should add that our fence has to give rather than break, 
when cars in our narrow lane hit it, despite it being as brilliant white as 
I can get it.  Thin brackets and short stainless screws thus are used to 
attach panels to posts, so that when a post gets clipped the brackets give 
instead of the wood.  Still a pain having to keep reassembling though!]